Choosing Your New Hardwood Floor

Floors are often the last thing people think of when buying or remodeling a home. The choices can seem overwhelming, including solid hardwood floors, engineered hardwood floors, laminate floors, bamboo floors, cork flooring, vinyl or marble tile. You can choose almost any kind of floor you want.

With all these choices, many people choose hardwood flooring because of its beauty, durability and affordability.

If you've already decided that you want hardwood flooring in your home, you are well aware of the beauty of hardwood floors and you know that hardwood floors, if properly cared for, can last a lifetime. You also know that the value of your home is greatly increased with hardwood flooring.

What you may not know is exactly how to choose your hardwood flooring.

You have multiple choices in hardwood flooring. You can go with solid hardwood floors, which are just what they sound like - solid planks of hardwood.

Another choice is engineered hardwood flooring, which consists of several layers of different woods with a hardwood top layer. This gives you the look of solid hardwood, but the engineered hardwood is less vulnerable to sudden changes in humidity.

Laminate flooring is not hardwood flooring at all; in fact it is an medium or high-density fiber based product with a photographic veneer which looks similar to hardwood flooring and is less expensive than solid hardwoods.  However, the sound and appearance will not compare with a true solid wood flooring or engineered wood flooring.

If you have your heart set on real hardwood, you probably will not be happy with anything else, and you will find that solid wood flooring and engineered hardwood flooring are very good choices.

As mentioned, engineered hardwood flooring can be less expensive, and is less prone to shrinking or warping with humidity changes. It is often very hard to tell engineered hardwood flooring from solid hardwood flooring, and engineered hardwood flooring can in turn be hard to tell from solid hardwood floors.

Many people choose laminate flooring because it comes in many finishes and shades and can be much less expensive than solid hardwood floors. While it has a shorter life span than hardwood floors, it is very durable if cared for properly.  Real wood floors are timeless and can last forever.

In the end, your hardwood flooring choice is a very personal one, but be aware that there are many hardwood floors to choose from.